Category: Publishing

Doors, Handles, Other Things

Posted on August 24, 2018August 24, 2018 By Mark Tiedemann

Some controversy has erupted around the Hugo Awards. Again.

I have two memories that relate. Â One was an early memory of one of the Oscar presentations wherein someone—an actor—took the opportunity to make statements of a controversial nature. Â I was young, I didn’t entirely understand why all the adults around became so…resentful.

Yes, that’s the word. Â They resented the intrusion of controversial matter into what they seemed to feel was something meant for them. Â It was on their television, it was supposed to be there to entertain them, it was not supposed to make them think about things outside the movie that was being honored.…

Picking Nits

Posted on March 7, 2018 By Mark Tiedemann

To some, this may sound petty, but others will know what I mean.

Back when I worked in photography, one of the things that separated the amateurs from the pros had to do with Finish. I did lab work most of my career, what was referred to as “finishing.” Now, at its most basic, this was simply processing the film and printing the pictures, but there was so much more to it than that simple description suggests. Because we weren’t just supposed to print someone’s photographs—we were supposed to make them lookÂ good.

And that required a lot of practice, more than a little experience, a bit of expertise, and, most importantly, what that idea meant.…

Radical Futures and Conservative Sensitivities

Posted on August 26, 2016August 26, 2016 By Mark Tiedemann

At the world science fiction convention just past, MidAmeriCon II, an event occurred which may well displace much more deserving matters, but which was significant enough to spark dialogue over a subject that has been at the center of debate within the science fiction field for several years now.Â A debate which regrettably led to the attempt to “game” the Hugo Awards by a disaffected element determined to deny the validity of current trends in new writings.

I refer, of course, to the Sad Puppies and their subsequent impressment by the Rabid Puppy movement, which was more or less the sole creation of one person who took advantage of the situation to push slates onto the Hugo ballots and otherwise poison the pool of discourse with a degree of venom that has adversely affected those among the Sad Puppies who argued these issues in good faith and on the merits of the fiction produced.…

K.C. 2016

Posted on August 24, 2016 By Mark Tiedemann

Worldcon is over, I am home, weary and pumped and amazed and frazzled. So much happened, it is difficult to sort it out and deal with it cogently.

This may have been the best worldcon experience I have ever had. Barring the first one, way back in 1984, in L.A., when Donna and I roamed around gawking at all the startling stuff and sitting in panels listening to the writers we were reading and finding books in the dealers’ room Walden and Dalton just didn’t stock, the worldcons in between have been mixed bags for us, often fraught with my anxieties of trying to become a pro writer and feeling alternately despairing and enthusiastic.Â …

Lightspeed!

Posted on March 1, 2016 By Mark Tiedemann

I am now a contributor to Lightspeed Magazine.Â They bought my novella, Miller’s Wife, for one of their ebook reissues.Â Here is the cover of the issue:

I am, as you may imagine, very pleased.Â Support the magazine, get the stories.

Oh, and Miller’s Wife now has its third appearance.Â Originally, the story appeared in Black Gate Magazine.Â Currently it is also the lead story in my short story collection, Gravity Box and Other Spaces.Â Now this.

Enjoy.…

Hartwell

Posted on January 20, 2016 By Mark Tiedemann

He was a presence in my growing understanding of the professional side of science fiction for almost 40 years. He was the first book editor whose name I knew. I collected a slew of his Timescape imprints from Pocket Books, regarding the label as a mark of excellence in a volatile field that was often untrackable in terms of what was good and what was not.Â Because of David G. Hartwell, a number of authors came to my attention whose work I have continued to follow to this day.

I was fortunate to know him. A little. Somehow. We crossed paths enough times to be acquaintances and he was always—always—-gracious and, more importantly, interested.…

Updates

Posted on September 28, 2015 By Mark Tiedemann

This coming weekend is Archon 39, our local SF convention.Â For the last two months I’ve been rushing about, often only in my own head, to prepare.Â This year is special in a number of ways.Â Harlan Ellison is attending.Â Now, unless one keeps abreast of such things, that alone is no explanation for the level of anxiety I’ve been feeling about this.Â For one, I instigated this event, largely without intending to.Â For another, I’ve been involved in arranging things for him and his wife, Susan.Â I’ve consequently been more involved in Archon than in previous years.Â But today, Monday, I can honestly say I have covered as many bases as it is possible.Â …

Monday Morning Surprise

Posted on July 7, 2014 By Mark Tiedemann

A friend of mine called while I was out. He left a message (which I thought had to be a mistake) to the effect that apparently my new book, Gravity Box and Other Spaces, made the local (St. Louis) independent bookstore bestseller list of the week ending June 29.Â Post-Dispatch page here.

Well, not one to be fooled, I looked it up.Â And there it is. (See link above)

I’m stunned.

I’m…well…stunned.Â

I mean, the last thing I expected was for something like this to occur with this book.

Not that I had a list of expectations, mind you.Â …

…and another shoe falls…

Posted on July 3, 2014July 3, 2014 By Mark Tiedemann

By all appearances, I seem to be having a good year.Â After my new collection came out last month from Walrus Publishing, a second book has now been released by Yard Dog Press.Â The link to this “new” title is here.

Logic of Departure is a neat thing.Â Last year, the marvelous Selina Rosen, chief cook and bottle washer of Yard Dog, called me to ask permission to reissue the two chapbooks of mine they had published.Â Extensions and Diva are novellas which, being novellas (and notoriously difficult to place), made their debut as nifty chapbooks.Â Yard Dog has consistently sold them for years.Â …

News and Such

Posted on June 22, 2014June 22, 2014 By Mark Tiedemann

I have another book out, from Yard Dog Press, The Logic of Departure.Â More on that later.

I’m having something of a productive year, career-wise.Â Â To recap, the official release party for my first short story collection, Gravity Box and Other Spaces, if this coming Wednesday at Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid, St. Louis, MO, at 7:00 PM.

Also, I’ll be doing another program with the St. Louis Science Center at the end of July.Â More on that when things are firmed up.

But on July 11th, we’ll be celebrating the 45th birthday of Left Bank Books and for that we’ll be doing something wild and crazy and insane—you know, normal fare for Left Bank—called Writers Under Glass.Â …